Friday, January 27, 2012

Runco's More Affordable LightStyle LS-1 Projector

Runco home theater projectors have a reputation of being high-class and high-performance projectors that come with a high-class pricetag as well. And when I say high price, I mean it. One device that the company offers is an absolutely amazing device that has an absolutely amazing price tag of $200,000. Yeah, you read that right, $200,000 for one projector. Thankfully, the company has developed a projector that will likely make its way into a lot more homes, the LightStyle LS-1, which is significantly cheaper at only $3,000.

The LS-1 is a single-chip DLP projector that is also said to have a 10,000:1 contrast ratio as well as a 780 ANSI lumens brightness. The lumens output seems kind of low, to be honest, especially with other manufacturers offering cheaper devices with lumens output exceeding 1,000. The device itself is fairly heavy, weighing approximately 18 lbs., which indicates that the internals of the device are pretty heavy duty. Just make sure you're careful when you mount it to your ceiling because nothing breaks up a party like an 18 lb. projector cracking somebody in the head.

All the inputs for the device are covered by a stylish removable panel which makes the device look more presentable. Behind the panel are two HDMI ports, one Component, one RGB, one S-Video and one Composite port. In There is also an RS-232 for control systems.A small control panel can be found on the top of the device for menu access, though the remote is much easier to use. The remote itself is also backlit, allowing you to use it in dark situations such as watching a movie with the family.

Features include things like ISF day/night settings, built-in test patterns and Runco's ViVix processing. There is also a vertical lens shift for precise picture tweaking ,though reports are stating that there is little need for tweaking out of the box, which is always a nice thing to hear.

Full specs include full 1080p HD, 230W lamp with 4,000 hours of life, two HDMI, one Component, one RGB, one S-Video, one Composite and one RS-232 port, Vivix technology processing, remote control, ISF certified calibration configuration and BT.709 color gamut.